Live Free or Die
"Live Free or Die" is the first episode of the fifth season of Breaking Bad and the forty-seventh episode altogether. Teaser The episode opens in a Denny's restaurant, across the street from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. A man, sitting alone at the counter, is served his breakfast: bacon, two eggs sunnyside up and hashbrowns. The man breaks the pieces in half, then arranges the pieces into the number "52 ." This man is revealed to be Walter White, full head of hair, an unkempt beard and no wedding band. We are a year into the future. A waitress tries to make conversation with him, but Walt is not very compliant and begrudgingly answers her benign questions, giving her a fake name (Lambert, which is Skyler White's and Marie Schrader's maiden name) and shows her an ID from New Hampshire. Excusing himself to the bathroom, Walt then trades an envelope of cash for a set of keys in the bathroom with Lawson, his previous gun dealer . Lawson asks Walt for his word that "it" won't be crossing the border. Walt assures him that "it" won't be leaving town. Before exiting the bathroom, Walt lets out a slight cough. He pops a pill. Leaving a $100 tip under his breakfast for the waitress, Walt exits the diner and locates the car that the keys belong to. Opening the trunk, "it" is revealed to be an M60 machine gun with ammunition. Walt looks around cautiously, then puts his bag in with the gun and slams the trunk shut. Summary Returning home following the explosion at Casa Tranquila , Walt disposes of all evidence from the pipe bomb and Lily of the Valley poison. Walter White Jr. and Skyler return shortly thereafter and although Jr. is excited that Gustavo Fring's death means Hank Schrader would be labeled a hero, Skyler is terrified of her murderous husband. Walt takes a drink of celebratory whiskey, but is startled as he remembers the security cameras inside the destroyed superlab. Hank and Steven Gomez survey the charred remains of Gus' superlab, noting that it was identical to Gale Boetticher's designs. Gomez remarks that the corpses - who were shot by Walt - are unidentifiable due to the fire. Hank notices the remains of the security camera with great interest. In Mexico, Mike Ehrmantraut feeds chickens outside the temporary medical clinic where he had been recuperating from the shootout with the cartel. After learning of Gus' fate, Mike drives the cartel's car to go kill Walt. However, he is intercepted by Walt and Jesse Pinkman in the desert, and after a heated argument they agree to find a way to destroy the laptop which held footage of them all in the lab. Mike fakes a call to the Albuquerque Police Department, finding out that the laptop had already been placed in the APD's evidence locker. Mike and Walt argue about creating a bomb to destroy the laptop when Jesse hatches an idea to use a giant magnet. The three meet with Old Joe to purchase an electromagnet from his junkyard, which they hook up to 42 car batteries inside a moving truck. Saul Goodman visits Skyler at the Car Wash to inform her that Ted Beneke had an accident. She fears for his death, but he insists that he was still alive, having just woken up from a coma. She visits Ted at the hospital where he was in a spinal neck brace being treated for severe head trauma. He promises her that he will never speak a word of the events that transpired. "Good," Skyler replies. That night, Mike hot-wires the gate into the APD parking lot. Walt and Jesse drive the magnet-equipped truck next to the building to the wall outside the evidence room. The magnet disables the guard's computer, alerting the police. In desperation, Walt cranks the magnet up to its maximum voltage, sending a force so strong it tips the truck over. The police security guard finds the evidence room destroyed by the magnet and sends officers outside to apprehend the crooks, but Walt and Jesse escape with Mike, leaving the truck behind. Mike is dubious that their ploy worked but Walt responds to him that it worked "because I said so." The police officers clean up the evidence room and find account numbers of a bank in the Cayman Islands behind a picture of Gus and Max Arciniega. Walt visits Saul's office where Saul explains what transpired in regards to Skyler giving Ted $600,000. Saul attempts to sever all ties with Walt but Walt responds, "We're done when I say we're done." Walt returns home to a frightened Skyler and tells her that he knows what has happened to Ted and that he forgives her. She hesitantly accepts his hug. Credits Main Cast * Bryan Cranston as Walter White * Anna Gunn as Skyler White * Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman * Dean Norris as Hank Schrader * Betsy Brandt as Marie Schrader * RJ Mitte as Walter White Jr. * Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman * Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut Supporting Cast * Christopher Cousins as Ted Beneke * Steven Michael Quezada as Steven Gomez * Jim Beaver as Lawson * Larry Hankin as Old Joe * JB Blanc as Barry Goodman * James Harris as Duty Officer * Monique Candelaria as Lucy * Gail Starr as Nurse Trivia *The episode title "Live Free or Die" refers to New Hampshire's state motto and Walt's mentality about being out from under Gus' and the DEA's thumbs. *Walt's New Hampshire car is an older model Volvo, which happens to be the same brand of car Gustavo Fring drove. *Walt's arranging of "52" with bacon mirrors Skyler arranging "50" with veggie bacon in the "Pilot". *Marie Schrader does not appear in this episode. *True to other season premieres, the first few seconds of the episode overlap with part of the previous season's finale. **Walt and Jesse witnessing Tuco's wrath. **Reports of the plane crash. **Jesse shooting Gale. *However, this is the first season premiere to not feature any characters being killed. *"Live Free or Die" was the series' second most-watched episode to date, raking in 2.93 million viewers on it's initial airing. **It was the first, until Say My Name beat it with 2.98 million views. *When Bryan Cranston visited Conan O'Brien on his talk show, Conan called the episode "amazing". *Ted Beneke describes his memories of the accident with "I tripped and fell. That is all I know", which is very close to "I woke up, I found her, that's all I know" told by Jesse in "ABQ" to the police. Featured Music *'"Love is Running Through Me (aka "Running Through Me")'" by Javaroo *'''"Music for Your Soul (aka "Conversations")" '''by David Castle es:Live Free or Die Category:Season 5 episodes Category:Breaking Bad episodes